I polished the parts, then the plating shop plated them ...

March 18, 2017

Q.
I had a set of zinc plates plated in a rush. I had never done this before and used a different company. When the parts were returned, they had bad brownish spots as well as speckles all over them. The company said it was due to me prepping the plates and not letting them do a "professional" job on them. I have always done my own prep work, for 20 years now and have never had this issue. The plates were polished enough to pick pimples in if you wanted to.

They were supposed to clean the plates (buffing compounds etc), strike, and bright nickel.

Since I do not specifically do plating I cannot argue that I believe it was their error and not mine.

Paul Bledsoehobbyist - Vandalia, Ohio

March 2017

A. Hi Paul. The shop may not have been happy with your prep work; but if so, their response should have been either to tell you that they would not plate the parts, or that they would only plate them if you paid them to re-polish them. In my view a shop should not offer unsatisfactory plating, and they are at fault if they do. Just personal opinion.

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